Google goes searching for Michigan small businesses

A business with a couple of dozen employees is a small business. That same business without a website isn't even a small business. To potential customers, it might not even exist.

Visibility is a problem for most small businesses in the digital marketplace.

According to a study commissioned by Google Inc., 59 percent of small businesses in Michigan do not have a website.

And nationally, 63 percent of small businesses lack a website, said the same study, conducted by the French research and marketing company Ipsos. The study defined small businesses as those having 25 or fewer employees.

About 23 percent of Michigan businesses do not have any Web presence at all, said Michael Miller, director of online sales and head of Google's Ann Arbor office. That means no social media, no online local listings and no presence on maps such as Google Maps, where close views show the locations of businesses and other landmarks.

"They're completely invisible if someone is actually going to do a local search or trying to find a product or service online," Miller said. Becoming visible represents an economic development opportunity for the region, he said, given that most jobs come from small business.

Google and the Web hosting company Intuit Inc. are holding an event through Wednesday in Detroit, offering small businesses free websites and hosting for one year.

More than 1,200 businesspeople signed up to attend the event, which brought in Google employees to offer advice on topics such as online strategies and the company's AdWords advertising program.

Intuit has a room full of computers set up to provide free Web domain names and website hosting for one year, with small-business owners going online to set up the accounts and adding ready-made templates to the sites on the spot.

The event, called Michigan Get Your Business Online, is part of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.'s Pure Michigan Business Connect initiative. Organizers say walk-ins are still welcome at the event, taking place at the Max M. Fisher Music Center.

Google has held similar events in other states this year. The Detroit event met its online registration limit in two days last week after it was announced.

Scott Levitan, Google's director of small-business engagement, said the rapid turnout was the result of organizations such as the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center and MEDC getting the word out to small businesses.

"Events in other states have been full, but this one was the first to get filled up so quickly," Levitan said.

A smaller event is planned for Friday in Kalamazoo.

Businesses don't necessarily need to send someone to the events. The offer stands for one year, and businesses can sign up at michigangetonline.com.

Miller said many business owners are daunted by setting up a site and think it's time-consuming or expensive. The event aims to dispel those notions.

One entrepreneur who started a home-based bakery a year ago as a side job and signed up for the Google and Intuit offer today is Angelique Robinson, who runs Treats by Angelique LLC out of her home in Taylor.

"I didn't even know where to start" when it came to setting up a website, she said.

Next year she hopes to open a storefront in Midtown, where her customer base is, Robinson said.

But the program is also about having a Web presence that can be accessed through mobile devices. Beyond setting up websites, the program also is giving businesses free listings in Google Places, allowing businesses to appear on Google Maps.

"Something that we see with the rise of mobile devices, whether that's smartphones or tablets, is increases in searches with local intent. One in three searches conducted on a mobile device has a local intent around it. So if you're looking for that, and you happen to be out on a Saturday afternoon running errands, and it's after lunch and you need to find a dry cleaner, you might actually go to your smartphone or tablet and that search and find it," Miller said when asked why a dry cleaners needs a website.

"If you're the dry cleaner that doesn't have that ... then you will miss out on that."

Douglas Willett, president of Luna Tech Designs LLC in Plymouth, helps make businesses appear on Web services such as Google Earth. He said he recommends small businesses make themselves appear on all of Google's products so they can achieve what he calls "visibility by proximity."

"Sometimes (consumers) are not looking for you," Willett said. "They're looking for the restaurant next door."